


Of Misunderstandings and Movie Nights

by SabbyStarlight



Series: George Eads Appreciation Week 2021! [5]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: And some slight hurt Mac because the plot told me to, Fix-it to 5x05, Fluff, Found Family Feels, Gen, George Eads Appreciation Week, Jack Dalton Lives (MacGyver TV 2016), SO MANY Princess Bride references it isn't even funny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 18:02:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29904969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SabbyStarlight/pseuds/SabbyStarlight
Summary: Jack didn't die.He pulled a Dread Pirate Roberts and became Kovacs so he could make it back home to his kids.Too bad they didn't understand the clues he left to try and let them know that.
Series: George Eads Appreciation Week 2021! [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2189058
Comments: 10
Kudos: 40





	Of Misunderstandings and Movie Nights

**Author's Note:**

> This is a day late because it wouldn't stop writing itself. Every time I opened the doc to do a "final read through" before posting it, another thousand words would appear out of nowhere. Oops. But who says GEAW can't be every week? 
> 
> This is readable if you haven't watched The Princess Bride, but it will make a lot more sense if you have. (And I highly recommend watching it because it is quite possibly one of the best movies in the world and, as Jack says in this fic, one of the most quotable.)

"Nice and easy," Bozer coached, tucked beneath Mac's shoulder as he helped him through the entryway, trying to slow their movements down a little as they went. "Why are you in such a hurry? That couch isn't going anywhere. It'll still be there waiting on you if you don't bust a couple stitches running to it."

"Maybe I'm in a hurry," Mac shot back, voice tense, though Bozer couldn't tell if it was pain or annoyance causing it. "Because there was a knife sticking out of my abdomen two days ago and I would really, _really_ like to be sitting down right now."

"Alright, alright," Bozer said, unable to argue with that, even though Mac's uncommon admission of pain left him worried. "Been there, done that, dude. Though I gotta say, mine was a from a knife. Yours? That was closer to being classified as sword. And you came out of there with one less organ than you went in with, so I really think you should take it easy."

"I can get by just fine without a spleen," Mac assured him as they finally rounded the corner and made it into the living room. "Help me get situated and then you can go."

"Go?" Bozer scoffed as he carefully began helping lower Mac to the sofa, cringing more than Mac was at the pain moving caused. "Where would I go? You're a couple days past almost dying, Mac. You remember that, right? That you almost died?"

"You know what, Boze," Mac hissed. "Now that you mention it? Yeah, I do remember. Thanks. Don't know what I'd do without you here to remind me."

"Mac-"

Mac kept going as if Bozer hadn't said anything. "But I guess we'll find out soon enough, since you're going now. Thanks for the ride home. I'll take it from here."

"I'm not leaving you, Mac," Bozer said softly, though there was no room for argument in his voice. "Not ever, but definitely not like this. I get that you're hurting, man. And not just because the creep of the week tried to gut you like a fish. But we all are. You don't get to shut me, shut us all, out because you miss him. That's not fair. To us, or to you. And that's the last thing Jack would want."

Mac crossed his arms defiantly, blue eyes steely, staring into the empty fireplace and blinking back tears. It was the first time anyone had brought the subject up directly in weeks and it had caught him off guard. "I'm not having this talk with you right now."

"Too bad," Bozer shrugged, determined. "Cause I am. Desi and Riley will be here in like, twenty minutes with pizza, until then? It's just us. Seems like the perfect time for the talk we've put off long enough. Because we've put up with _this_ ," He waved his hands towards Mac's petulant state. "For long enough. And it stops. Now. Not the hurting, cause trust me, dude, that won't ever stop. Not after a loss like that. And if anyone knows that, it's gonna be me. But the way you're acting."

"Boze," That was the closest Mac had ever heard Bozer get to talking about his brother's accident since they were kids and it pulled him out of his own mental spiral enough for him to look up and meet Bozer's eyes with sympathy. It hadn't occurred to him, in the weeks since they got the news about Jack, that Bozer actually did know what it felt like to lose a brother. "I..."

"Nope," Bozer shook his head. "This isn't about me. And that look? That look right there? That's why I don't talk about it. About him. So we're talking about you and how stupid you've been and how that's ending, starting today."

"Doing my job is stupid?"

"When you're being intentionally reckless? You're damn right it is."

Mac sighed. "It worked though. It got the job done and-"

"And I almost lost you because of it," Bozer's eyes were shining brightly with unshed tears. "Don't put me through that again, Mac. Please. I can't... I can't handle losing someone else, okay? Not after losing Jack too? And I know it's hitting you harder than it is me, maybe more than it is anyone, but we all lost him. Not just you. We're all grieving and we all miss him. But what we aren't doing, is running around tempting fate. Getting reckless and just waiting until the universe has had enough of it and takes us out too."

"I'm not-"

"You are," Bozer didn't give him a chance to argue. "You might not even realize it's what's happening in the moment, but that's what you're doing, Mac. And I'm not letting you get by with it any more. I'll go to Matty and have you taken out of the field, if that's what it takes. And you can be as mad at me as you want, I don't care. At least you'll be alive. Because that's what Jack would want. That's what he asked me to do."

The threat of being removed from the mission roster, of not being able to distract himself by getting lost in his job, sent Mac back into the defensive and undid any of the progress Bozer's honesty had made. "You wouldn't. I don't know what's got in your head, why you suddenly think taking care of me is your job, but it isn't."

Never one to try and combat anger with even more anger, Bozer took a breath, centering himself and calming down before carefully sitting down on the sofa next to Mac. "Because he asked me to."

"What?"

"Jack," Bozer explained. "I know he isn't here, and now he _really_ isn't here, but he asked me to keep an eye on you, man. To make sure you took care of yourself. And I kinda screwed up after he left, didn't do the best job of that. And I'm not letting that happen again. So I don't care if you don't like it. I'm not doing it for you. I'm doing it because Jack asked me to."

"He..." Mac leaned forward, ignoring the pull on his freshly-mended wound as it screamed in pain, reminding him that he wasn't supposed to be moving. He didn't care, all he could think was that there Bozer had spoken to Jack. It was bad enough that he had missed Jack's last call, even though he hadn't known at the time that it would be his last, but finding out that Bozer had gotten a chance to talk to him instead was an entirely new type of hurt. "What? When?"

"No, no," Bozer assured quickly, easily realizing where Mac's brain had gone with his admission. "Not anytime soon. Not... before. Calm down," A steady hand fell to Mac's shoulder, easing him back against the leather cushion. "When he left, remember?"

Mac shook his head. As far as he knew, he was the only one Jack had told about taking on the Kovacs mission until right before he shipped out. Riley and Bozer had been in the dark about the entire thing.

"Seriously? Come on, Mac. Do you not have that whole scene in the War Room memorized?" Bozer shook his head. "Was it not as traumatic for you as it was for the rest of us, havin' to say goodbye to him like that? Even before we knew it was gonna be, you know, _goodbye_ , goodbye? How do you not have every last second before he walked out that door seared into your brain?"

And it wasn't that Mac didn't remember. Because he did. Every word, every almost-spilled tear, every millisecond of that damn handshake had plagued his dreams for so long he struggled to remember a world where he didn't have those memories hovering over every other memory he had of Jack. A stain that wouldn't come clean no matter how hard he scrubbed. And they had risen to the surface of his subconscious tenfold since they had gotten the news. But it wasn't his own brief moments-precious moments he hadn't known would be their last-with Jack that he remembered. He was certain he could recite every word said between all of them from that afternoon. Matty, Bozer, Riley, and there was nothing there of Jack asking Bozer to take care of Mac. To watch out for him and keep him safe. Unless...

"You really thought he was talking about those stupid old movies?" Bozer asked with a smile. "This whole time? Man, he meant you. He wanted me to keep an eye on you. Even when he was leaving, he had to make sure there was still someone watching your back. Even if it was just me."

A car door slamming close sounded from the driveway but Bozer ignored it, assuming it was the rest of the team showing up with the dinner they promised to bring so he wouldn't have to cook on top of everything else he was dealing with.

"Really?"

"Really," Bozer smiled sadly.

"I didn't-I didn't realize..."

"I guess that was kinda my fault, huh?" Another voice joined in, without Mac or Bozer either one realizing someone had entered the house. A voice they had both given up hope on ever hearing again. "Should'a been a little clearer about that, but I figured a guy as smart as you, hoss, would be able to read between the lines and know what I was talkin' 'bout."

A rush of emotions, too many to begin to process, overrode Mac's sense of caution and he forgot about the newly repaired stab wound on his abdomen as he lunged off the couch, his partner's name falling from his lips before it was replaced by a pained scream and two sets of hands-one who had never left him and one who never should have-dove to catch him as the world faded to black.

Mac slept through the reunions, though he was assured that there was enough disbelief and relieved tears shed from everyone else that it more than made up for his lack of contribution. Apparently Riley and Desi had arrived just in time to find the man they had both thought had been taken out of their lives helping Bozer get an unconscious Mac settled on the couch. The second time he saw Jack-blinking up, head pillowed in Jack's lap as he struggled to focus on the face above him-was less dramatic. The bleariness in his eyes was quickly replaced by a film of tears that was wiped away by familiar calloused fingers and Mac was at a loss for words, afraid that if he spoke he would wake up from what was the most realistic dream he'd had of his partner since he had left.

"You ain't dreamin'," Jack assured softly, his free hand reaching up to gently comb through the hospital-stay-induced tangles that Mac hadn't worked up the energy to care about detangling himself. "I'm home."

"But..." Mac shook his head, displacing Jack's hand and freezing in his tracks as the movement registered. It felt real. A cautious glance around the room, at Riley curled into Jack's free side and Desi balancing on the arm of the sofa next to her, Bozer perched on the coffee table across from them, the group all crammed into as small of a space as possible, red-eyed and unsteady, but none of them were disagreeing with Jack's words. "Guys?"

"He's here," Riley smiled as she somehow managed to press herself even closer to Jack's side. "We're still all waiting on the explanation as to _how_ he's here, but he's here."

"Jack?" Mac struggled to get his elbows positioned to push himself up..

"Easy, now," Jack soothed, reaching out to assist automatically. "Slow it down a little bit. Think you went and got a little careless without me here to watch your back."

"Let me up," Mac insisted, ignoring the scolding.

"Alright, alright," Jack slowly helped Mac raise to sitting. "Slow, remember? Let me help you."

His words of caution were completely ignored as Mac threw himself towards Jack, arms wrapping around the older man's neck. Finally getting the hug Mac had spent every day regretting not initiating when Jack left.

"I missed you too," Jack murmured into Mac's hair, pressing a careful kiss to his temple before pulling back, hands braced on Mac's shoulders, not wanting to break the point of contact just yet. "But as happy as I am to see you, to see all of you," Warm brown eyes skipped from one of his kids to the next until they landed back at Mac's "It ain't worth hurtin' yourself worse over."

"Don't care," Mac buried his face in the junction of Jack's neck and shoulder, unwilling to move from the safety and familiarity he had thought had been taken away from him forever. "Doesn't matter."

"Look, I'd be lyin' if I said I wasn't holdin' out hope for my coming home making an impact," Jack admitted, looking around the room again, this time in search of answers. "I'm about as dramatic as they come. Why else would I have snuck in like I did? But this is a little more emotional than I was expectin'. Less happy, more... traumatized."

"Probably because we thought you died, you ass," Desi said, tone unable to match the heat in her words. "So excuse us for being a little shaken up when you come walking in the front door like our world hasn't been completely turned upside down, nothing but grief and loss and hurt since we got the news. I think you owe us some answers, not the other way around."

"Wait, hold up, now," Jack's heart stuttered in his chest, a sympathetic ache for what he had unintentionally put his kids through. "Y'all really believed it? You didn't know?"

"You were dead," Riley answered for all of them, the words bringing a fresh wave of tears to her eyes. "What were we supposed to think?"

"Hell, I don't know! Thought you were supposed to be spies? And good ones, at that! I know I couldn't make it super obvious, but c'mon kids. I left clues for you!" Finally understanding why Mac was being so clingy, Jack shifted him sideways, tucking him into his side and letting him lean against his shoulder as he tried to explain. Mac didn't last long there, his head slipping down automatically, coming to rest with his ear pressed against the reassuring thump of Jack's heartbeat. "I knew my landlord well enough for him to send out that postcard if he hadn't seen me in so many days? Does that seriously sound like somethin' I would do? I lived there for months and that dude couldn't tell you my first name. Not even the one I was usin' at the time, let alone my real one. That date on the card should have been the first clue that somethin' wasn't right."

"I think we all thought... maybe," Riley admitted, eyes scanning the room for confirmation from everyone else. "When we saw that but it was so easily explained that we didn't really question it after we had an answer."

"You really gave up on me?" Jack scoffed. "Just like that? There wasn't even a body! None of you thought to make sure of that?"

"I tried," Mac said softly, finally speaking up, fingers twitching, restless against the blanket someone had spread across his lap while he was out. "They wouldn't let me. Said there wasn't enough left there to say goodbye to."

"Hey, here," Jack leaned closer, digging in his pocket for a moment before pulling out a paperclip and pressing it into Mac's palm, taking a moment to give his hand a squeeze in the process. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for putting you through that. All of you," Jack met each of their eyes for a moment before continuing. "But that ain't what you were told, bud. And I know, I know, Mac bein' wrong don't happen too often. But the reason I know is because I gave them specific instructions on what to tell you when you came lookin' for closure. Not that there wasn't enough there to say goodbye to, that there wasn't a _body_ there to say goodbye to. It was another clue. I was doin' what I could to make sure y'all knew... you really thought I was gone? That I had left you?"

"Yeah," Desi answered, anger dripping from her voice in an attempt to hide any other emotions. "We really did."

"I'm so sorry," Jack pulled his hand away from Riley's shoulders long enough to scrub it over his face, scratching at his beard before returning it and pulling her even closer. "I thought that between all of y'all you'd be able to piece it together. That you'd have a little more faith in me than that. But I shouldn't have assumed. Not after I up and left you in the first place. Biggest mistake in my life, right there."

"Was there anything else?" Mac asked, leaning just a little more into Jack's side, needing the steady warmth to reassure him that it was real. "That we missed?"

"I mean, that will I had Jilli handling? She called you about that, Mac, right?"

"She did," Mac nodded.

"Y'all didn't see any problems with that thing?"

"Other than the fact that Riley got a perfectly restored classic car while Mac got some old t-shirts and movies?" Desi raised an eyebrow. "Not really, no."

"It was more than some people got," Bozer scoffed under his breath and Jack couldn't help but smile.

"Hey now, there was a clause in there that if there was somethin' that had real sentimental value to anyone, it became theirs. I trusted y'all to take what was important to you. 'Course, I also that that, between the four of you, you'd be smart enough to realize that there were too many mistakes in there for it to be legit. Not enough to make it real obvious, but enough that my kids should have seen it."

"Like what?"

"Well, let's see... when my time does come? Riley, baby, the Shelby's yours. I even told you that once. The GTO goes to Mac."

"It does?" Mac asked, surprised, turning around to try and see Jack's face, stitches pulling enough to cause him to hiss at the movement.

"Easy there, now," Jack soothed, pulling Mac back into place tucked against his chest. "Of course she does. The car i fixed up with my dad? Only makes sense to leave her to my boy."

"Oh," Mac said softly, ears turning red.

"Which leaves the Stingray," Jack continued, diverting the attention away from Mac and giving him a chance to get his emotions in check. "And I think, Bozer, that one's always been your favorite?"

Bozer nodded cautiously, though he couldn't quite mask the spark of excitement in his eyes.

"Then I guess I did good leaving her to you," Jack grinned.

"Too bad you only have the three," Desi joked.

"Well, you see, at the time," Jack explained "I only had three kids. So it wasn't an issue."

"I'm just giving you a hard time, Jack," she assured. "I don't expect you to-"

"Lemme finish," he interrupted. "Now, you know it wouldn't take much to convince me to invest in another classic piece of automotive history. And I ain't sayin' i won't ever, cause if the right piece comes along I might just have to bring it on home. I've gotten pretty good at bringing home strays over the years. But I just always figured yours were the safest hands I could leave my weapons collection in."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah," Jack shrugged easily. "Who else would want 'em? And really respect 'em you know? But, don't get too excited," he held up a warning hand. "There is a small caviat to that. You get the whole lot unless there's somethin' someone else has a connection to. That knife that came home in my leg with us from Cairo," he gave Mac's shoulder a squeeze before meeting Bozer's eyes. "The piece I taught you to shoot with. If it means something to you, I want it to be yours."

"As nice as this all is," Riley cut in. "It doesn't matter. Because you're not really dead. We aren't getting anything, because you're back."

"Speaking of," Bozer spoke up, seemingly having found his words again after taking a few moments to regroup and collect his thoughts. "Dont take this to mean I'm not glad to see you,, cause i am. But how in the hell did you pull this off?"

"That's a real long story, Boze," Jack began but Bozer cut him off.

"And we thought we had lost you. So I think you can take the time to tell us how we didn't."

Gone was the goofy kid Jack had met when he and Mac made it home from their tour overseas. Mac's childhood best friend with big dreams that he wasn't quite ready to grow up enough to make them happen just yet, who would literally squeak if Jack moved too fast and startled him. The man staring him down now had grown not just up, but into his own while Jack was gone. The fact that it was a change that had come out of necessity wasn't lost on Jack. He had promised Bozer from day one that he wasn't going to hurt Mac and then he had turned around and done not just that, but hurt all of his kids in the process.

"Yeah," Jack nodded slowly, meeting Bozer's gaze evenly. "You're right, Boze. I think that's the least I can do. Okay, um, where are we startin' this... Riles. You remember when you were a kid and I made you watch The Princess Bride? When you were determined you were too old for princess movies and I had to show you that you were wrong?"

"Yeah," She nodded. "But you don't get to act like you don't love that movie. I'm pretty sure it's one of the last ones we watched before you left. And you totally picked it out."

"After the op in Tuvalu," Mac cut in, remembering. "He made us watch it after we had already spent the entire mission listening to him quote it."

"We were tracking down a guy who was out to avenge his father's murder," Jack rolled his eyes, secretly thrilled that they remembered. "And he had the hair for it.. What was I supposed to do? Not call him Inigo Montoya?"

"The bit where you went around asking people if they had six fingers on their right hand was a little excessive," Bozer said. "We know the movie. What does that have to do with you not actually being dead? Or Kovacs? Or... or any of the tings we've been dealing with for the past few months?"

"You pulled a Dread Pirate Roberts," Mac exclaimed, struggling again to push himself up on weak arms. As comforting as it was to be leaning against Jack's chest, feeling the steady thump of a heartbeat he had thought, only a short time before, had stopped beating forever, he was starting to put the pieces together and he wanted to see Jack's face. "Right? That's genius, Jack."

"Easy, hoss," Jack helped to steady Mac, carefully helping him get fully upright. "You got one hell of a hole carved into you, remember."

"I'm right aren't I?" Mac asked, ignoring Jack's worry. "That's why you had to fake it. So nobody would assume the new Kovacs was you?"

"Wait," Desi frowned, not quite understanding. " _You_ were Kovacs?"

"For a little while," Jack nodded. "Yeah. Once we figured out that it wasn't one guy, that it was a cover passed down from one person to another, making them nearly impossible to track down, I figured that would be the easiest way to end it for good."

"Become Kovacs yourself and take the whole operation down from the inside out."

"And keep a whole lot of people safe while doin' it," Jack confirmed.

"But how?" Riley asked. "How'd you convince them that the alias should go to you next? Even if you starting working your way into the ranks once you figured it out, it happened fast. Fast enough to be suspicious."

"Took out the next ones in line," Jack admitted, watching her eyes carefully as he admitted it. It was a fine line between finally telling his kids the truth and keeping enough of the gory details to himself so they didn't think of him as a complete monster. "It did the job of moving my name up on the list and impressing the woman in charge of the whole thing enough to convince her to give me a shot."

"I don't buy it," Desi argued. "That still couldn't have been, what, ten people? Sure that's impressive. But that wouldn't be enough to convince me that a random stranger who just showed up with more information than he should have was good enough to be trusted with a reputation as impressive as that one. And you couldn't pull from your past kills without revealing your history as an agent."

"Which is why in between taking care of those dirt bags, I spent the time keeping you kids safe." That statement left them all looking more confused than ever, so he continued. "Doin' what I was doin'? I had some spare time. And I had access to a pretty big underground network of, well, let's just call it gossip. Anything I caught wind of, any big bads that I thought Phoenix would be sent in to handle after they did whatever it was they were planning? I went ahead and took care of 'em right then and there so y'all wouldn't have to. So they wouldn't get a chance to try and hurt you."

That admission was met with a chorus of "Seriously?" and "Of course you did." Punctuated with fond head shakes.

"What was I supposed to do?" Jack asked. "I had to clean that whole mess up before I got to come home. That doesn't mean I stopped takin' care of y'all though. That job comes first. Always."

"I think we all understand why you did it," Riley began, choosing her words carefully. "But it would have been nice to know that plan from the beginning."

"Or at least to know that you weren't actually dead," Bozer added.

"The phone call," Mac spoke up, raising his head up off of Jack's chest. "That I missed. You tried, didn't you?"

"Don't go blamin' yourself for that," Jack warned, already tracking where Mac's thoughts were going. "It ain't your fault. Can't expect you to be able to drop everything and answer your phone twenty-four seven. It's fine."

"But you did, right?" Mac continued, determined. "You tried."

"I did," Jack sighed, "But it's no big deal, Mac, really. I should have had a better backup plan than expectin' Tibor to be able to give you the message without any wires gettin' crossed."

Jack could see the exact moment Mac's eyes lit up in realization as the pieces fell into place. "He did. I just... I didn't get it at the time. You weren't talking about Vegas, you meant the one we spent on our way _to_ Vegas. In the bunker. Where we-"

"Faked my death," Jack finished for him with a proud smile, taking the opportunity of Mac being distracted by his own shortcomings to pull him back against his chest before he hurt himself with all the moving around. "Yeah, now, I'm willing to take the blame for like, ninety-nine percent of this whole mess but missing that one is totally on you, pal." He teased. "But it don't matter. I'm home, and that's where I'm staying. Ain't leavin' you kids again. Hurts too damn much and clearly it ain't good on any of y'all's health." He sent a pointed look to the bandaged wound hiding beneath the fabric of Mac's shirt.

"That had nothing to do with you," Mac quickly protested.

"He hasn't been back two hours, Mac," Desi rolled her eyes. "Don't start lying to the man already, MacGyver. You've been acting stupid and reckless ever since we found out."

"Mac?" Jack sent a raised eyebrow stare to the young man who was currently attempting to hide his face in Jack's shirt.

"I missed you," He mumbled, voice muffled against Jack's chest. "Work was the only thing that kept me busy enough that I could forget that for a few minutes."

"Aw, kid," Jack wrapped his arm even tighter around Mac's shoulders, holding him close. A look at the rest of his kids assured him that they felt the same way. Dark circles under their eyes and muscles still harboring tension that spoke of missed sleep and worry. Exhaustion and stress that he caused. Inadvertently, but it was still on him. Which meant it was up to him to fix it. "I don't think I'm ever going to be able to make this up to you, to any of you, but I'm sure as hell gonna try."

"It doesn't matter," Riley said softly. "You're home now."

"Yeah, darlin'," Jack smiled, taking a moment and looking around the familiar room filled with his favorite people. "I'm home."

"Do you know how epic the welcome home party I was going to throw for you was going to be?" Bozer asked mournfully, eyes landing on the forgotten boxes of pizza barely balanced on the edge of the kitchen counter where they had been dropped. "Before we all thought you were dead, that is. Actually, I don't even know if epic covers it. I spent months planning. Testing recipes, figuring out how to fit all your favorites into each course. There were seven different appetizers, Jack. Seven. We're talking _huge_ here. And it wasn't just about the food either. There was gonna be a banner. Custom printed balloons. A signature drink. We were even going to fly your family in from Texas-"

"And Nick was going to drive up from Vegas," Riley added.

"It was going to be this whole thing," Bozer shook his head sadly. "Because I thought we'd at least get a few day’s notice before you came back. And then you didn't just come back, you came back _from the dead_. And you're stuck celebrating with... cold pizza and crying and stab wounds."

Jack couldn't help but laugh. "You say that like there wasn't gonna be tears either way, Boze. Not gonna lie, I could do without the stab wound," he sent a pointed look towards Mac "But the rest don't matter. Though if you're dead set on throwin' a party, you know I'm always down for that. But it's your call. I don't need some big thing. I'm just lookin' forward to things starting to get back to normal. And what's more normal for us than pizza and a quiet night in watchin' a movie?"

"And stab wounds," Mac added with a smirk, a glimmer of his old self, joking and sarcastic and most importantly, _present_ shining in his eyes for the first time in far too long. "That's a big part of our normal too, so, in a way, I did everyone a favor by getting this. Your welcome."

"Again," Jack grinned. "That's the part I could go without. But as much as I hate it, you're kinda right. Worryin' about you, havin' you here all hurtin' and clingy? Feels like home."

"Alright," Desi, always the one who was more than happy to put an end to an emotionally charged moment, especially when it had left her on the verge of tears herself, stood up. "Pizza. Jack has to be hungry."

"Starving," He agreed. "Don't even wanna know how long it's been since I had a slice of pizza."

"Because it's been so long? Or because you don't want to do the basic math required to figure it out?" Riley teased, taking one of the boxes Desi had stacked next to Bozer on the coffee table and beginning to tear the lid into sections to serve as cardboard plates so none of them would have to waste time away from Jack later to wash dishes.

"Sure, sure, make fun of the guy you all thought was dead. Real hilarious," Jack shook his head in mock disappointment, actually relieved that they all still felt comfortable enough to make jokes at his expense. A lot of the plane ride home had been spent worrying that he had been gone long enough for that familiarity and lighthearted banter to have gone away when he left. "Speaking of which, I know it's kinda a rule that the guy who got hurt gets to pick the movie, but I think I might have earned the right to pick tonight, if that's okay with you, Mac?"

Mac smiled. "Die Hard it is."

"Fitting title," Bozer laughed as he tossed the television remote to Jack.

"Actually," Jack scrolled past the familiar title card-his favorite had been a constant fixture in all of their movie watching while he was gone so it was always near the top of the queue- "I got a better idea."

"Everyone prepare for the quoting to begin," Riley warned as she settled back into Jack's side with her pizza, watching the familiar opening credits begin.

"It's pretty much the most quotable movie of all time," Jack grinned, pulling Riley closer and making room for Desi on her other side as Bozer handed Mac one of the improvised plates and squeezed onto the couch beside him as well. "And it has everything. Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles..." he began reciting the grandfather's enticing monologue from memory. "Sounds just like our lives. And we even got the sick kid sayin' he'll try to stay awake through the whole thing." Jack pointed out with a smile.

"Stabbed. Not sick," Mac argued around a bite of pizza.

"Which is where the fencing, fighting, and torture comes in," Desi added.

"Wait," Bozer leaned forward, unable to see Desi through the three people in between them. "I thought Jack was the badass pirate dude? Why is he quoting the grandpa here?"

"I don't think he'd appreciate me answering that," She replied with a smirk.

"Would y'all hush up and watch the movie?" Jack scolded. "I'm all of 'em. Right now I'm the cool old guy tellin' his kids to be quiet, in a little while I'll be the awesome hero faking his death and taking on an entirely new identity so he can make it back home."

"It really was a great plan," Mac said quietly, still trying to process everything Jack had to have done in order to pull it off.

"Would'a been better if it had worked out so that you knew I wasn't really gone," Jack sighed. He knew he would be blaming himself for that long after his kids had forgiven him for it. Knowing them, they already had. "I guess that's why the Dread Pirate Dalton needs his Miracle Mac though."

It hadn't been perfect, but they had managed to give a happy ending to what they all had thought was going to end as a tragedy. Though, it didn't feel much like an ending. The start of another chapter, perhaps; a new beginning. And knowing they were all together again, Jack couldn't wait to see what their journey brought them next.

**Author's Note:**

> I just about titled this one Of Dread Pirate Daltons and Miracle Macs. No lie.


End file.
